Mischief Managed

Harry Potter’s Invisibility Cloak Gets an Origin Story and May Soon Exist in Real Life

J.K. Rowling continues to sprinkle tidbits of the backstory on everyone’s favorite boy wizard over on the Pottermore Web site. It’s like J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion for the digital age. The latest story traces the origins of the Potter clan and connects the dots of how Harry’s handy invisibility cloak went from being a Deathly Hallow to the favorite accessory of James Potter in his Marauders days. Better yet, there’s a new report that scientists are working on a technology that could someday result in invisibility cloaks for all of us. Think of the mischief you might manage!

First, the Potter backstory. This is admittedly a somewhat drier entry into Potter lore, but if you simply enjoy living in the rich world Rowling has created, then this little tale of the Potter invisibility cloak may be right up your Diagon Alley. The latest article—“The Potter Family”—traces Harry’s family back to the 12th century. The Potters are the descendants of Linfred of Stinchcombe, a “locally well-beloved and eccentric man, whose nickname, ‘the Potterer,’ became corrupted in time to ‘Potter.’” As for the cloak:

Linfred’s eldest son, Hardwin, married a beautiful young witch by the
name of Iolanthe Peverell, who came from the village of Godric’s
Hollow. She was the granddaughter of Ignotus Peverell. In the absence
of male heirs, she, the eldest of her generation, had inherited her
grandfather’s invisibility cloak. It was, Iolanthe explained to
Hardwin, a tradition in her family that the possession of this cloak
remained a secret, and her new husband respected her wishes. From this
time on, the cloak was handed down to the eldest in each new
generation.

Dumbledore made sure that tradition carried on to include Harry.

Now as for the news that you might one day have an invisibility cloak to pass down to the eldest witches and wizards in your family? Popular Mechanicsreports that a team of scientists at Pennsylvania State University just presented a cloaking substance “that takes the form of a sleek skin of nano-material. . . . At 80 nanometers thick, the skin-like material is 1,000 times thinner than a human hair—just twice the width of a flu virus.” Well, given that the low-rent invisibility cloaks in Harry Potter are made from the hair of the mythical Demiguise beast, I’d say science is right on track to outdo the sleek design of Rowling’s imagination.

But we’re not quite there yet. So far the nano-material only works on small objects, not Harry-size humans. But the project’s leader, Xingjie Ni, said he “can see the potential to scale this up to the size range of centimeters or even meters, by using a different fabrication technique.”

The bigger obstacle between this scientific project and true sneaky Marauders status is that Ni’s nano-material isn’t see-through. Popular Mechanics clarifies that “the cloak cleverly reflects light to create the illusion that a bulky object is entirely flat. So, rather than hiding Harry in a hallway, you could imagine such a cloak one day concealing something like a micro-sized listening device on a wall or mirror.” Well now, this is starting to sound like a toy for the C.I.A. or Argus Filches of this world, and not for mischief-making Potters.

Guess we’ll have to keep waiting for our own invitation to Hogwarts and the delightfully mysterious family heirlooms that will no doubt come with it.

About a Book
Harry, his owl, Hedwig, and foppish professor Gilderoy Lockhart pay a visit to London's "wizarding" bookstore, Flourish and Blotts.

Photo: Photographed by Mark Seliger for the October 2002 issue.

Greenhouse Efx

Ron, Hermoine, and Harry take Herbology instruction from Professor Sprout, played by Miriam Margolyes. Ron is holding a just-picked Mandrake. Note earmuffs, which protect the students from its fatal cry.

Photo: Photographed by Mark Seliger for the October 2002 issue.

Stoned

Hermione Granger has been literally "Petrified." She is attended to by Madame Pomfrey (played by Gemma Jones), Harry, Ron, and Colin Creevey (played by Hugh Mitchell).

Photo: Photographed by Mark Seliger for the October 2002 issue.

The Boy Who Lived

Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, in the spider-infested cupboard where he is forced to live. “I was totally scared out of my wits,” Radcliffe says of auditioning for the role.

Rupert Grint, who plays Harry Potter’s best friend, Ron Weasley, rides one of the live chess pieces that guard the hidden Sorcerer’s Stone at Hogwarts.

Photo: Photographed by Annie Leibovitz for the October 2001 issue.

Photo: Photographed by Annie Leibovitz for the October 2001 cover.

About a Book
Harry, his owl, Hedwig, and foppish professor Gilderoy Lockhart pay a visit to London's "wizarding" bookstore, Flourish and Blotts.

Photographed by Mark Seliger for the October 2002 issue.

Greenhouse Efx

Ron, Hermoine, and Harry take Herbology instruction from Professor Sprout, played by Miriam Margolyes. Ron is holding a just-picked Mandrake. Note earmuffs, which protect the students from its fatal cry.

Photographed by Mark Seliger for the October 2002 issue.

Stoned

Hermione Granger has been literally "Petrified." She is attended to by Madame Pomfrey (played by Gemma Jones), Harry, Ron, and Colin Creevey (played by Hugh Mitchell).

Photographed by Mark Seliger for the October 2002 issue.

The Boy Who Lived

Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, in the spider-infested cupboard where he is forced to live. “I was totally scared out of my wits,” Radcliffe says of auditioning for the role.

Photographed by Annie Leibovitz for the October 2001 issue.

The Dursleys

Unaware that he is really a famous wizard, Harry lives as an unloved member of the Dursley family. Fiona Shaw, left, is Petunia Dursley, sister of Harry’s late mother; Richard Griffiths, center, has the role of Vernon Dursley; and Harry Melling, as their son Dudley, is the world’s most horrible child.

Photographed by Annie Leibovitz for the October 2001 issue.

At Hogwarts

From left to right: gathered on the set of the Hogwarts School’s Great Hall are Jamie Waylett as Crabbe, Tom Felton as Draco, Harry’s nemesis, and Joshua Herdman as Goyle, all of Slytherin House, and Emma Watson as Hermione, Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, and Rupert Grint as Ron, all of Gryffindor House.

Photographed by Annie Leibovitz for the October 2001 issue.

The Half-Giant

Robbie Coltrane, who plays Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, says he went to J. K. Rowling for guidance: “When I was trying to get a fix on Hagrid’s character, she said, ‘Well, think of him as one of those really big Hell’s Angels that gets off a motorbike and then starts talking about how his garden is coming.’”

Photographed by Annie Leibovitz for the October 2001 issue.

Flitwick, Quirrell, and Hooch

From left to right: Warwick Davis (as Professor Flitwick, a tiny wizard who teaches Charms), Ian Hart (as Professor Quirrell, who specializes in Defense Against the Dark Arts), and Zoë Wanamaker (as Madame Hooch, professor of Flying) with a dragon skeleton on the set of the Hogwarts library.